Isaac's birthday celebrations

This week was a blur of fun! Not all the events of the week were specifically for Isaac, but I'm sure they made him feel like this week was special all the same. Last Saturday our family attended a Dodgers game in Los Angeles. This was our first time going with the whole family and the kids did great considering it's a 4 hour drive, a 3 hour game, then a 4 hour drive back. Lots of sitting! But completely worth it to see the Dodgers beat the Giants 8-0. Last Sunday was Mother's Day. We had a very relaxing day. Randy and the kids made me breakfast and then we headed to church together. After the church service we went to Chipotle for lunch, home for a quick nap, then out to Oso de Oro park for some play time before dinner. I had asked Randy to take some pictures of the kids as my Mother's Day present, so he brought along all his camera equipment and took a bunch of shots as the kids were playing. He's such a great photographer! I wish there was room to post all of them but I'll just post my favorites of each kid (the photo of Isaac on the last post was taken by Randy on Mother's Day). Our dinner for Mother's Day was strawberry waffles. Not waffles with strawberries on top, strawberry waffles. We made up our own recipe and they were quite good! With a little bit of butter and syrup and bacon on the side, it was a great end to our day! I, like my mom, love breakfast foods at any time of day! And for my kids to request waffles for dinner was like a present in itself...and a powerful reminder that my kids are learning from even the smallest things I do. I am so thankful for my amazing husband and wonderful children and pray that God will help me live with them graciously and patiently in the day-to-day routine, remembering that they are gifts from Him! As if Saturday and Sunday weren't fun enough, the week days were packed! Monday we were back to school/work routine, but went to Randy's mom's house for dinner and some fun in the backyard (the weather was just great last week)! Tuesday was Isaac's actual birthday, so we took cupcakes to school for him to share with his friends the last few minutes of class, and we went to Round Table for dinner (Isaac's choice). They do "Family Night" every Tuesday night, serving salad, breadsticks, pizza and dessert all buffet style for one price. And there's free face-painting (or arm-painting as you can see) and balloons for the kids. Randy's mom and the Wiens family joined us too! What a fun night! And to end the week, Isaac's kindergarten class went out to "the farm" at the Clovis East high school campus on Friday morning. The kids learned how to use a hammer, rope a cow, milk a cow, feed a pig, and a couple other things too! This was just one of many Fridays that my friend Marcy watched Violet so that I could be a part of Isaac's class! Truly, I can't thank her enough for being such a help with my kids...but a good way to start was to remember HER birthday, which landed on that same day! We celebrated that afternoon with some swimming in their backyard and some popsicles. Oh what moms have to do to fit in a party sometimes! Friday night Randy and I were able to get off on our own while Grandma Arlene kept the kids (giving Isaac yet ANOTHER reason to celebrate with dinner, rock painting, movie watching and popcorn eating...all at Grandma's...the BEST)! My friend Myra was also celebrating her birthday and we met some friends for dinner at Veni Vedi Veci's in the Tower. What a gorgeous night to eat in their patio! We had a fantastic time relaxing with great food and company, celebrating another year of friendship with Myra.

Saturday was Isaac's party. Isaac requested a LEGO theme this year for his 6th birthday. Randy and I had a fun time coming up with invites, games, cakes, and more to go with Isaac's theme. The party went amazing well...considering there were 10 little boys, 6 and younger, here for the party! It helped to start the boys out with a handful of LEGOs in a bag of their own. They were told they got to keep all the LEGOs they collected in their bag during the party. The boys were awarded LEGOs for all kinds of things...sitting quietly, waiting their turn, trying hard at a task, throwing their plate away after the snack, etc. It was great! Randy set up this picture for Isaac's invitations. Team tower building. Randy measuring to see who built the tallest one!
Playing pin the hat on the LEGO man. The table set with cupcakes made by me, decorated by Randy. Also, see to the right the jar full of LEGOs. The boys each took a guess at how many LEGOs were in the jar. A close-up of the LEGO men. Isaac blowing out his candle on his I cupcake. More building. All the boys with their "monsters" they created.

WOW! What a week! Happy Birthday Isaac!